Wranglers Comeback Falls Just Short in 4-3 Overtime Loss in Greeley

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NAHL Amarillo Wranglers

Wranglers Comeback Falls Just Short in 4-3 Overtime Loss in Greeley

March 24, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Amarillo Wranglers News Release


Greeley, CO - The Colorado Grit defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 4-3 in overtime at Greeley Ice Haus on Saturday night. Trailing 3-1 in the third period, the Wranglers rallied back to force overtime, but Sheldon Rioux buried the game winner for Colorado as the two teams split the weekend.

Coming off of a riveting 4-3 overtime victory on Friday, the Wranglers needed another win to keep their playoff hopes in good shape. Both teams opted to start a different goaltender this time around, with Amarillo starting Matt Schoephoerster and Colorado Richard Rafaj. 7 points back of Colorado for the final playoff spot in the South, the Wranglers needed this game to help close the gap between themselves and the Grit.

The Wranglers opened the scoring 2:47 into the game, as Alexander Aleslov snuck a bouncing puck past Rafaj from below the left circle to give Amarillo and early 1-0 lead. Aleslov's 9th goal of the year was assisted by William Larsson, who extended his point streak to 4 straight games. The Grit answered 4:05 later, tying the game at 1-1 with Brayden Junker's 5th goal of the season. Junker threw up a floater of a shot into a screen that beat Schoephoerster from Ben Rakowski for the score. Later on in the period, Amarillo got into some penalty trouble putting Colorado on a 5 on 3 man advantage. Alexander German was able to capitalize for the Grit to give them the 2-1 lead with 1:13 left in the first period with a well placed shot into the top right corner of the net from the right circle. German's goal was assisted by Evan Smutney and Lucas Mann, giving the Grit the lead heading into the first intermission. Shots were 15-14 in favor of the Grit through one period of play.

Colorado added to their lead in the second period to make it a 3-1 game, as a blocked shot sent Lucca Ori and the Grit on a 2 on 1 into the Wranglers end, where Ori buried a shot for his 14th of the year with 5:30 left in the period. Ori's goal was the only goal of the second period, a period where the Grit outshot the Wranglers 17-10.

The Wranglers needed a big third period to keep their playoff hopes alive, and they delivered. With 8:12 left in regulation, Alexander Aleslov scored his second of the night on a backdoor pass from Marc LaFrance to make it a 3-2 game. Just 36 seconds later off of a faceoff victory by Noah Wood, Daniel Rassega ripped a shot into the top far corner for his 4th of the year to tie the game at 3-3. Amarillo outshot Colorado 19-5 in the third period in an attempt to win the game in regulation, but Rafaj and the Grit were able to keep the score tied and send the game to overtime, earning both teams a standing point.

Overtime was a back and forth affair, but towards its end Colorado was able to control puck possession and keep the Wranglers in their own end, eventually leading to Sheldon Rioux putting in the game winner on a shot from the slot to give the Grit the 4-3 victory.

The game featured 86 combined shots, with both teams taking 43. Amarillo went 0/4 on the power play and 2/3 on the penalty kill. Schoephoerster stopped 39/43 for the Wranglers in the loss. Amarillo is now 8 points back of Colorado for the final playoff spot in the South with 6 games to go.

The Wranglers are in Odessa next weekend on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for a critical three game set. All games are must win games for the Wranglers from here on out. Puck drop is set for 7:15 PM, fans can watch on NATV or listen in on the Wranglers YouTube channel. Make sure you're following the Wranglers on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube to stay up to date with all the latest news and promos.

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